CBA Record Oct. 2015

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PRO BONOWEEK 2015– RISE ABOVE YOUR NARROW CONFINES
Around 8:30 every night, more
than 20 unaccompanied youths
congregate outside The Crib.
Each hopes to win the lottery–the shelter
lottery, one that will let them sleep on a
mat on a basement floor for the night.
Operated byThe Night Ministry, The Crib
is a city-supported emergency shelter in
the Lakeview neighborhood for homeless
youth, ages 18 through 24.
The youth shelter only operates at night.
Youth must be out by 9 a.m. the next
morning. Most homeless youth have no
choice but to carry their belongings with
them wherever they go. Once they leave
in the morning, they are not guaranteed a
bed the following night.
There are 374 shelter beds for an esti-
mated 11,447 unaccompanied youth in
Chicago, so these young people run a good
risk of being turned away. If unable to find
another shelter bed for the night, they face
limited options: sleeping outside, riding
CTA trains, walking the city all night,
or trying to find a friend or relative who
will give them a place to stay. Youth who
are unaccompanied–homeless, without
a parent or guardian–also struggle with
food instability, not knowing when they
will have their next meal. Their day-to-day
focus on survival presents barriers to full
inclusion in society. Addressing immediate
housing, hunger, and legal needs frequently
prevents full participation in important
activities, including school or employment.
The volatile and unstable lives that
homeless youth endure can make access
to resources and services extremely dif-
ficult. Signing up for public benefits such
as food stamps or Medicaid, or applying
for a college or a job, can seem impos-
sible without a phone or a stable address.
Homeless youth often struggle to obtain
basic necessities, such as Social Security or
state identification cards, because they were
forced to leave home with nothing more
than the clothes on their back, with no way
to prove who they are. With too few shel-
ter beds, many are forced to “couch-surf ”
or “double-up” with relatives or friends,
usually in overcrowded conditions. This
option presents a safe solution for some,
but can be stressful and traumatic for
others. The new book, $2.00 a Day, Living
on Almost Nothing in America highlights
this problem: “While living with relatives
sometimes offers strength and uplift, it can
also prove toxic for the most vulnerable in
our society, ending in sexual, physical or
verbal abuse.”
Accessing legal aid services can be equally
difficult. A CTA trip to meet with an attor-
ney is often not possible. Most homeless
youth live in extreme poverty, unable to
afford a $5 round trip fare. Leaving a mes-
sage on an intake line is also difficult for
youth who don’t have a telephone number
or a regular place to receive voicemail. Addi-
tionally, most homeless youth have different
help-seeking mechanisms than adults. They
are more likely to seek a referral from friends
or by word-of-mouth among peers. Given
that many of the youth were let down or
abandoned by the adults in their life, they
are not quick to trust or open up.
Meeting the Legal Needs of Homeless Youth
Through a Mobile Legal Clinic
To meet the urgent and complex legal
needs of homeless youth in the Chicago
area, the Law Project at the Chicago Coali-
tion for the Homeless (CCH) launched
Youth Futures, a mobile legal aid clinic in
2004. The first of its kind in the country,
the clinic provides civil legal services by
meeting youth out in the community,
at schools, shelters, and drop-in centers.
The mobile legal clinic is a van outfitted
with mobile office equipment, enabling
attorneys to bring their office into the
community to deliver legal services directly
to homeless young people. This model
has proven extremely effective, with the
program serving 354 youths in the year
that ended June 30, 2015. The Law Proj-
ect assists homeless young people with a
myriad of civil legal issues, ranging from
access to public benefits and health care to
education and family law.
“Daryl” was one of the homeless youth
living in Chicago. As a child, he suffered
a traumatic brain injury that continues to
impact his life. He first became homeless in
his teens and lost his only source of income,
Social Security, in 2011. He sought services
at an emergency shelter and drop-in center
in the Back of the Yards neighborhood.
There he met an attorney from CCH.
Working together at the drop-in center,
the attorney helped Daryl, now 24, get his
benefits reinstated, advocated for $13,800
in back payments, and arranged for an
appropriate payee. With financial stability,
Daryl is able to secure long-term housing
and continue the supportive services he
needs. Daryl’s story is just one example of
how legal services can dramatically change
outcomes and circumstances for unaccom-
panied youth.
And because a quality education helps
break the cycle of homelessness and pov-
erty, the CCH Law Project has also focused
its work on the educational rights of home-
less students. The federal McKinney-Vento
Homeless Assistance Act and the Illinois
Education for Homeless Children and
Youth Act allow homeless students to stay
stable in school with additional support
services, including transportation to their
school of origin and school fee waivers.
These legal protections are critical for the
Approximately 550,000 youth in the U.S. experience homelessness annually,
380,000 of whom are under age 18. Of a half million young people who experi-
ence homelessness, only 50,000, or 9%, receive services from homeless youth
programs. In a 2013 survey of homeless youth inChicago, 37%of youth reported
going an entire day without food. They are more likely to suffer from infectious
diseases, at higher risk of depression and suicide, andmore likely tobe victimized
or experience sexual exploitation while on the streets. For more information on
these, and other statistics, please visit the Chicago Coalition for the Homeless’
website at .
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